A little more conversation
by fireylight
Summary: DHr. Draco and Hermione both sign up for a "wiz-messaging" program(an adaption from our instant messaging today). Something unexpected happens... Chpt 3 UP!
1. How it all started

This is my first Hermione/ Draco fic. . . I hope you guys will review. Thanks. I'm open to any suggestions you might have. Oh, and I'll be updating every few days.  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Draco Malfoy found himself staring at the passing hordes of people at Hogwarts. All of them were talking, chatting, and looking happy in one way or other. He glanced over his shoulder at Crabbe and Goyle. Crabbe was openly picking his nose, and Goyle was sitting as if he were made of hardened clay. Funny how he could look like a slab of stone when he tried.  
  
Draco wondered what it would be like having an _actual_ intelligent conversation with someone else of his own age, that didn't pick his nose in public, or look like a frozen gargoyle. It didn't help that the both of them had the IQ of a broken toothpick.  
  
He did try, however. "What did you guys think about the Charms quiz?"  
  
Crabbe looked at Goyle. Goyle looked at Crabbe. They looked as if they had been asked for the answer to Einstein's equation.  
  
"Well. . . uh. . ." Crabbe started intelligently. He glanced at Goyle, as if looking for an answer. Goyle shrugged and went back to his stone slab posture. Crabbe scratched his head. "What was the question again?"  
  
Draco started banging his head against the wall.  
  
***********  
  
Hermione sighed. "Can't we talk about something else?" She pleaded. If she heard Ron and Harry talk about which Quidditch ("Which is better, the Chudley Cannons or the Jumping Jets?") any longer, her ears were going to officially go on strike.  
  
They ignored her. Harry was stoutly in favor of the Jets, but Ron thought likewise.  
  
"How can you still be on their side? They totally blew their last match!"  
  
"A true fan never wavers," was Ron's stubborn reply.  
  
Harry snorted. "Right. Coming from the person who practically jumped on the chance to get free tickets to the Jumping Jets match!" He shook his head empathetically to prove his point.  
  
Ron turned red. "They were free, okay? Besides, I was still in support of the Cannons. "  
  
"Was not."  
  
"I was wearing orange that day! The Chudley Cannons' official team color! It doesn't count."  
  
"Does too."  
  
"Does not."  
  
"Does too."  
  
It looked like Ron and Harry were going to continue in such a vein for a while. Hermione shifted her books in her arms as they rounded the corridor. To her surprise, she was met with the image of Draco slamming his head against the wall repeatedly, while Crabbe and Goyle stood behind him, looking worried.  
  
Fortunately, Harry and Ron were too preoccupied with their argument to notice. Hermione pushed the mad image of Draco acting like a lunatic out of her head. _Stay calm. _ she told herself. _The people around you aren't really bonkers today, it's just your imagination. Nothing to worry about. _  
  
They entered the Charms classroom. "Does not," Ron hissed as they sat down. "Does too," Harry snapped back. They looked as if they were about to start a fistfight if they had the chance. The class, together with Professor Flitwick, watched them with avid interest.  
  
Hermione sank in her seat. This was going to be a looong day.  
  
***********  
  
[Later, at the Slytherin dungeons]  
  
Draco looked at the rather wrinkled flyer he picked off the floor. It read, "Order now! Free trial period, with the added incentive of communicating with a possible new friend in your age group."  
  
"What're you looking at?" Goyle loped up to him curiously. He tried to peer over Draco's shoulder.  
  
"Nothing." Draco stuffed the flyer into his pocket. "It's nothing."  
  
***************  
  
Hermione stared at the flyer she received. "What's this?" she asked Lavender.  
  
"Oh, that," Lavender giggled. "It's a really cool way to make new friends your age. They introduced it to the Wizarding Weekly two weeks ago. Parvati and I have been meeting plenty of other wizards with it."  
  
_Male ones, no doubt,_ A little voice at the back of Hermione's head sang out. She forced a smile on her face and headed upstairs, where Harry and Ron were comparing Quidditch tactics (again).  
  
"I'm telling you, that move wasn't the smartest."  
  
"Was too! It won them the game, didn't it?"  
  
"No it didn't! I'm telling you - "  
  
Hermione cleared her throat. They took no notice of her, and continued bickering. She took another look at the flyer. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea after all.  
  
  
  
Tbc. . .  
  
[A/n: so what did you guys think? Pls review!] 


	2. delivery

Yay! Thanks to all of those who reviewed. Namely, aims80, GlueStik, Name - Less One, flitwicke (you're in another one of your spammy moods agn unless I'm mistaken), Eriol's bear (would this happen to be a ccs thing? =) ), Athletic_gurl, jade and TFG. *huggies* I'm in a rather huggy mood today, but never mind. (",)  
  
Chapter 2  
  
[At the Slytherin table]  
  
Draco caught the neatly wrapped parcel that fell from the owl in his hand. He raised an eyebrow. The delivery was more immediate than he expected.  
  
Aware that the rest of the Slytherin table was staring at his "mysterious parcel", he swiftly tucked it firmly into the folds of his robes, and noticed that an attached letter fell from it.  
  
Mister Draco Malfoy,  
  
We are pleased to inform you that your application has been approved, and enclosed is your own personal log book, in which you can use to confer messages to your wiz-messaging friend.  
  
Regards,  
  
The Wiz-messaging committee  
  
Draco crumpled the letter up. This action drew even more curious glances all around.  
  
"Aren't you going to open it, Draco?" Pansy Parkinson fluttered her lashes. "It could be something important."  
  
Draco waved his hand. "Whatever," was his reply, as he absentmindedly bit into a muffin. He chewed slowly, processing in his mind what he was going to do about the log book. Sure, it was for losers who had no friends, but come to think of it, he didn't really have any to speak of.  
  
Suddenly, he started choking [A/n: forgot to chew before swallowing - too engrossed perhaps? :D ], and gulped down his juice quickly, in order to clear his throat. Pansy immediately started fawning over him, and Draco was torn in a moment where he felt like coughing and throwing up simultaneously. This was creating quite an uproar at the Slytherin table, and they crowded around him, each trying their own methods to ease the choking. Draco thought he was going to suffocate from all the pressure around him.  
  
****************  
  
[Meanwhile]  
  
"What's going on?" Ron asked curiously, as the rest of the Great Hall gaped at the spectacle of a whole group of Slytherins crowding around a very embarrassed Draco.  
  
Harry snickered. "Humiliation has officially become an understatement."  
  
Hermione couldn't help feeling a little sorry for Draco. He looked as if he wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible, squirming in his seat. His coughing fit was over, but Hermione could still hear shouts of "Drink more! Drink more!" and "Let's administer the Heimlich!" It was pretty amusing, though.  
  
Hermione was so distracted that she didn't notice the parcel in front of her.  
  
"Hey, Herm, you got a parcel," Ron observed.  
  
"Huh? Oh - thanks." Hermione unwrapped it eagerly, and beneath the brown paper was the most beautifully bound book she had seen in her entire life. The cover was made up of rather fancy looking leather, and the pages inside were made of cleanly cut pieces of parchment. She noticed the letter stuck onto the wrappings and read it with anticipation. The smile on her face widened as she quickly scanned the contents, and she turned to Harry excitedly.  
  
"Harry! Look!" She shoved the book into his line of vision, so that he could get a good glimpse of it.  
  
Harry smiled uncertainly. "Nice diary," he mumbled, before turning his attention back to his breakfast of cereal and fruit. He stared at his spoon as if it held the answers to life, obviously going into one of his "I'm- moody-don't talk-to-me" moods. Strange how Ron and Harry both had these moods swings lately.  
  
Hermione directed her attention back to the log book, and grinned consciously to herself. She couldn't wait to get started.  
  
****************  
  
[In the Slytherin dungeons]  
  
Draco hunched over the log book. It was fairly well made, he observed. He dipped his quill in the ink and paused over the parchment. On the paper was written: Log in name.  
  
Draco hesitated, then scribbled something that popped out of his head. He watched in wonder as the words on the parchment disappeared, then, new words surfaced. They were questions on who he would prefer chatting with, and Draco, now feeling very confused, circled them randomly, not even looking at what he was choosing. He finally sat back and watched as the ink disappeared, only to reveal a blank page. Draco waited for more words to appear, but none surfaced. He was starting to feel impatient, and accidentally blotted the paper by mistake. To his amazement, the blot was absorbed into the parchment, and a short line of words appeared at the top.  
  
SilverSerpent: .  
  
Draco could only stare. The blot appeared next to his name, and looked exactly like one he had accidentally done on the parchment before. Before he knew what was happening, another line appeared under his sentence.  
  
HgirL: Hi.  
  
Draco didn't know how to respond [A/n: wizard born, remember? =) ]. At least he knew the respondent was female. He cautiously wrote once more, his quill making scratching noises against the rough surface.  
  
SilverSerpent: Who are you?  
  
HgirL: Who are _you_?  
  
SilverSerpent: I asked first.  
  
HgirL: I'm a student.  
  
SilverSerpent: That's not what I meant. I said who, not what.  
  
HgirL: I think we should keep our identities secret. You know, more suspense and all.  
  
SilverSerpent: Fine.  
  
Draco was secretly relieved that he didn't have to give away his name. In a way, he felt that he would be able to hold a better conversation if the other person didn't know that he was a Malfoy. He was tired of being constantly avoided by others who were scared of his family.  
  
HgirL: Great. You don't sound so happy, though.  
  
Draco frowned at the handwriting. It looked oddly familiar, and he was almost sure he had seen it before. . .  
  
SilverSerpent: I'm just a little grouchy, I guess.  
  
HgirL: You too? The people around me are pretty grouchy, too. Every time I try to get some kind of conversation going, I don't get much of a response.  
  
SilverSerpent: Same here.  
  
HgirL: Really? What a coincidence, huh? :)  
  
Draco cracked a smile, and dipped his quill into the inkwell once more. He could really get used to doing this.  
  
  
  
****************  
  
Hermione grinned to herself, as she quickly flipped through the past few full pages she had written in the log book. Not bad. The conversation between her and SilverSerpent was actually pretty interesting. She felt as if she could relate to his problems of not being able to have a proper conversation with his friends. That is, if SilverSerpent was a "he". Hermione had simply guessed that the person she was conversing with was male, from the scrawled handwriting. It wasn't what you would call untidy, but just seemed to be very. . . boyish.  
  
She glanced at the clock on the wall. Oops. She was supposed to be in bed by ten minutes. She hastily scribbled a message.  
  
HgirL: I have to go. It's bedtime. SilverSerpent: Okay. Good night.  
  
HgirL: Night.  
  
HgirL: We'll talk again tomorrow, I hope?  
  
SilverSerpent: Okay. Tomorrow.  
  
Hermione closed the book, and restrained herself from laughing with happiness. She smiled at the log book in her hands, and headed upstairs.  
  
"Good night," she whispered, and lay down in bed, staring at the ceiling for a long time before finally dropping off to sleep.  
  
  
  
Tbc. . .  
  
[A/n: Sorry for the slow update. I promise to update more frequently in future. Oh, pls review!! Thanks.] 


	3. and so it begins

Hi! I'm back! *waves* sorry for the v. slow update... a million thanks to my beta reader, silverstar, and all those that reviewed. I do solemnly promise to update as soon as I can for this fic. Apologies for the long wait. 

  
**Chapter Three - A little more conversation**   
  
  
Hermione pushed her way through the crowd of excited students gathering near the wall near the Charms classroom, trying to see what they were looking at. She finally managed to nudge through to the front of the pack, joining Harry and Ron as they were virtually squished against the large announcement hung on stone wall. 

  
"What's going on?" Hermione gasped out, as she was violently flung into Harry, while the other students swarmed forward. 

  
"The sixth years are taking some sort of test," Ron panted, sounding winded. "Top three candidates get to go to Romania for some dragon exposure trips or something." His eyes brightened. "Imagine that! A free trip to Romania! I'd probably get to meet Charlie - " 

  
"It's a good thing it's free, you'd never be able to afford it anyway, _Weasley_," an all too familiar voice drawled out. "And even if you did get in - heaven forbid - you'd probably get eaten up on first sight." 

  
The three of them whirled around to meet Draco Malfoy, who was smirking as he took in Ron's slightly worn attire. His gaze then flickered to Hermione, who glared back into his icy gray eyes. "Pity, Granger," he said coldly. "The test isn't a written one, so there isn't very much you can do about it, is there?" 

  
Hermione's face burned with hatred. "Get a life, Malfoy," she snapped. "There's no way I'll lose to some ferret-face pureblood." 

  
"Care to bet on that, _Mudblood_?" Draco Malfoy's eyes flashed dangerously, and Hermione took and involuntary step backwards as Harry and Ron tackled him to the ground. Snapping out of her daze, she hastily tried to detach Ron, who looked as if he was ready to gnaw Malfoy's arm off. Harry was too busy exchanging blows with Malfoy to notice Hermione trying to pull the both of them away from the scene, which happened to be near the Potions office - 

  
"Well, well," Snape said silkily, a sadistic smile crossing his features, as the crowd of remaining students dispersed quickly. "What have we here?" 

  


  
"Damn Snape," Ron spat out, as he practically flung the yellow-spotted toad he was carrying into a jar. It hit the bottom of the jar with an ominous _thud_. 

  
Hermione was too tired to complain much. They had already been in the dungeon for about three hours, transferring yellow-spotted toads into separate jars. Unfortunately, the toads did not seem to want to cooperate, and there seemed to be more slime on their clothes than on the toads themselves. 

  
Harry halfheartedly poked at a toad, which ended up squirting more slime at him. "It's not like we can do anything about it," he reasoned, ignoring the green muck dripping down his front. 

  
"I'm really sorry, guys," Hermione said, staring at the ground. "You didn't really have to hurt him on my account." 

  
"Don't think too much about it," Harry said with a small smile. "What are friends for?" 

  
"He had it coming anyway," Ron decided. "Did you hear? He supports the Silver Serpents - and they beat the Chudley Cannons 250 to 20!" 

  
"They had it coming anyway," Harry remarked, and had to duck as a yellow-spotted toad went flying in his direction.   


  
Hermione groaned as she practically collapsed on her bed. Once again, Harry and Ron had bickered all the way back to the Gryffindor common room, and she wondered if it was possible to die from a earache. Glancing at the sleeping forms of Lavender, Parvati, and the other sleeping roommates, she lifted her logbook out from under her pillow and reached for her quill. 

  
  
Spottedtoads: Hey! Sorry, were you waiting for a long time? 

  
  
She waited impatiently for a response, and grinned as new blotted words started to form below hers. 

  
  
SilverSerpent: Not Really. What's with the new nickname? 

  
SilverSerpent: Wait. You're not Neville, are you? 

  
  
Hermione burst out laughing. _Neville?!?_

  
  
Spottedtoads: I don't think so. 

  
SilverSerpent: Good. I've had enough head trauma for one day. Another blow like that and I'd be on the floor. 

  
Spottedtoads: Bad day? 

  
SilverSerpent: Quite. If getting beaten up counts... 

  
  
Hermione took a sharp intake of breath. Beaten up? Was this _Draco Malfoy_ she was talking to? Nah, it couldn't be... the person she was talking to was nicer, humorous - and Draco Malfoy was anything but nice and humorous. She shook the thought out of her head. 

  
  
Spottedtoads: Poor thing. Wanna talk about it? 

  
SilverSerpent. Not really. Did you check out the test thing the sixth years are supposed to take? 

  
Spottedtoads: Yeah. You're taking it too? 

  
SilverSerpent: I suppose so. I've heard that it's a hands-on thing - they're testing your strength and stuff. 

  
Spottedtoads: Strength? 

  
SilverSerpent: Something like that. 

  
  
Hermione felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. If the test was based on strength, then... didn't it mean that Malfoy would have the advantage? 

  
  
SilverSerpent: Don't be too worried about it. 

  
Spottedtoads: Thanks. Oh, and did you hear about Neville's new girlfriend? 

  
SilverSerpent: You're kidding me again, right? 

  
Spottedtoads: No! 

  
SilverSerpent: Head trauma... trauma... 

  
  
************** 

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